


sunsoaked

by guanlin



Category: Produce 101 (TV)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Non AU, also it's lowkey ongniel not really y'all can gues, anyway have a lot of fun this is so fluffly, burn me, we've had enough angst i tell u, whats up im back trying to deal with the pain of losing my children
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-19
Updated: 2017-06-19
Packaged: 2018-11-16 05:26:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11247225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/guanlin/pseuds/guanlin
Summary: This is exactly how Guanlin likes him. Soft and sated and melted into the faux leather of the dorm’s sofa, skin slightly more golden than it was when he left. Seonho is smushing one of his cheeks against the sofa, moaning about how unbearably hot it is when Guanlin enters and he almost immediately wants to leave again. This kind of Seonho is his favourite kind, too sun soaked to be sarcastic or jokingly mean, skin smelling of the heat of the day and he seems kind of boneless.





	sunsoaked

This is exactly how Guanlin likes him. Soft and sated and melted into the faux leather of the dorm’s sofa, skin slightly more golden than it was when he left. Seonho is smushing one of his cheeks against the sofa, moaning about how unbearably hot it is when Guanlin enters and he almost immediately wants to leave again. This kind of Seonho is his favourite kind, too sun soaked to be sarcastic or jokingly mean, skin smelling of the heat of the day and he seems kind of boneless. Unfortunately though, Guanlin has to listen to him whining because of compulsory Best Friend Duties.   
“Hey kiddo,” he greets casually, even though there’s a year between him and Seonho at best. He shuffles into the living room like he wasn’t stood at the door for two minutes because he didn’t want to be too weak in front of his best friend.  
Seonho doesn’t move but Guanlin can see him trying to roll his eyes back to look at him.   
“Annyeong,” Seonho greets him lazily, dragging the g whilst Guanlin walks round the sofa to look at him. He’s messy, bangs sticking to his forehead, knees grassy and muddy from a day of playing football in one hundred degree heat and there’s even freckles appearing on his tan arms - Guanlin absentmindedly thinks it’s true that the sun only kisses the beautiful. Seonho keeps looking at him, watching Guanlin’s eyes roam over his best friend and shouldn’t Seonho think it’s kind of weird? Guanlin’s lowkey checking him out. Maybe Seonho’s too sated to do anything about it.   
“Did you get burnt?” Guanlin asks him, reaching out to pinch at Seonho’s rosy cheek. He’s still standing up awkwardly. Seonho’s taking up all of the sofa.   
“I don’t know,” the other replies, “Did I?”  
“Maybe, I can’t tell if your burnt or just hot.”  
Seonho raises a suggestive eyebrow. Guanlin takes it back, he hates this kind of Seonho as much as he hates the other kind.   
“Heat hot, you moron. Where is your mind?” Guanlin asks him, jokingly reaching forward and rapping at Seonho’s skull with a knuckle. Seonho shakes him off halfheartedly and seems to only then notice that Guanlin is still standing.   
“D’you wanna sit?” he drawls informally because he knows that Guanlin doesn’t really care about honorifics from him but apparently, someone does because Seonho gets a nifty smack on the back of the head from Dongho, who is probably just passing through.   
“Yah!” he exclaims, “Respect your hyungs, punk.”  
Seonho sits up at that, bowing his head to Dongho and murmuring an apology, though Guanlin knows he’s only really sorry for getting caught. He tries - and fails - to hide his pleasure at watching Seonho get told off by Dongho and Dongho notices, sending a grin his way before he heads to his room. Seonho sighs and Guanlin takes the fact that he’s sitting up as a blessing and quickly takes a seat where Seonho’s head was moments prior.   
“Hyung,” Seonho whines, pouting at the fact he has to sit up now and Guanlin avoids making eye contact because, really, Seonho is super cute and he has freckles and Guanlin does not want to be caught staring at him more than he already has been. Seonho whines more at the fact that Guanlin ignores him and instead reaches for the tv remote, flicking it on and settling on watching some re-runs of the big bang theory. He doesn’t even glance at the Korean subtitles anymore, fully aware of the fact he won’t be able to understand them. 

Guanlin thinks that Seonho might have settled down now and they sit in content silence for a couple of minutes but then Seonho is launching his upper half into Guanlin’s lap and laying his head on Guanlin’s thighs. It’s way too hot for this and Seonho’s cheeks are radiating heat onto the skin where Guanlin’s shorts have ridden up and there’s no doubt they’ll be sticky with sweat momentarily but there’s something about the way Seonho’s breathing slows down and his eyelashes look as black as coal against the flush of his cheek. Guanlin decides he’ll suffer the heat if it means Seonho stays like this, all nice and soft. He really is like a little chick and Guanlin wants nothing more than to protect him. He reaches a hand out and smooths it into Seonho’s hair, pushing his fringe away from his sweaty forehead and Seonho’s eyelashes flutter. He’s asleep in two minutes and Guanlin continues his administrations, half watching the television. He doesn’t know how long he sits there for but he’s snapped out of his daydreams when Samuel and Daehwi stumble in and it’s suddenly dark.   
“Oh,” Daehwi says, from where he’s slung over Samuel’s shoulder. His voice has immediately lowered from before, where he was practically screaming for Samuel to put him down. Samuel turns around, almost smacking Daehwi’s face off the wall in the process and Daehwi lets out a little shriek, hissing at Samuel to put him down and Samuel finally does, turning around to face Guanlin.   
“Hello,” he says, in English as all of the conscious people in the room can speak it to various degrees of accuracy.  
“Hi,” Guanlin replies, hand still moving subconsciously through Seonho’s hair. Samuel’s eyes follow his hand and it strikes Guanlin that he looks kind of sun-sated too, eyes glazed over by the heat. Everything’s a little slower like this.   
“Is he okay?” Daehwi asks Guanlin, looking at Seonho.   
Guanlin looks too.   
“Yeah, he’s okay. He was playing football all day so I think he’s just tired.”Daehwi nods.   
“It’s late, you know,” he remarks, looking at the orange Seoul lights leaking through the blinds and projecting onto the wall behind the tv, “Maybe you should put him to bed.”  
Guanlin looks at Seonho again. The street lights fall on him in such a way that he looks almost god like. Strong facial features, defined cheekbones and skin strangely flawless, stained orange in the light.   
“Yeah, maybe,” Guanlin replies but when he looks up, Samuel and Daehwi are gone. Had it been that long?

Guanlin sits there for a few more minutes before deciding he should wake Seonho and make him shower as it’s past eleven and they have filming tomorrow. He gently shakes at his shoulder and Seonho immediately starts stirring, rubbing his cheek against Guanlin’s knee.   
“You guys are cute,” Jinyoung remarks from behind Guanlin and it takes all of Guanlin’s self control not to jump. He turns around, bowing slightly in greeting and wonders why they’ve been commented on by so many people.   
“Thanks,” Guanlin says because what else is he supposed to say?  
Seonho finally opens his eyes and blinks blearily, attempting to gather his bearings. He smiles lazily up at Guanlin before noticing Jinyoung and smiling up at him too.   
“Hey hyungs,” he says, “Thanks for lending me your lap, Guanlin,” he says before hopping off the sofa and disappearing into the bathroom. Guanlin blinks whilst Jinyoung walks round the sofa to sit on it with Guanlin.   
“He’s cute, huh?” Jinyoung remarks. Guanlin is still staring at the closed bathroom door.   
“Yeah,” he answers distractedly, “Why?”  
“You think he’s cute?” Jinyoung asks instead.   
Guanlin finally looks at him.   
“You didn’t answer my question,” he says, desperately trying to avoid Jinyoung’s. Why is he even doing that? It’s fine to think your friends are cute.   
“Neither did you,” Jinyoung answers, “You think he’s cute?”“Jinyoung, what? I mean, yeah, he’s cute. Why are you asking?”  
“Would you date him?” Jinyoung suddenly asks and Guanlin is so shocked he almost falls off the sofa.  
“What?” he splutters, “Where is this coming from?”  
“Answer my question,” Jinyoung says instead and Guanlin is terribly, terribly confused. What the hell is Jinyoung even talking about? Guanlin has never even thought about dating Guanlin. Why would he have? He likes girls, doesn’t he? They’re pretty and nice and like Guanlin too.   
“I like girls,” he tells Jinyoung but for some reason he doesn’t sound very sure.   
“Are you sure?” Jinyoung picks up on it and Guanlin’s eyes dart around before he leans into Jinyoung.   
“What are you doing, hyung?” he hisses lowly.   
“Just think about it,” Jinyoung says vaguely before standing up and heading back into his room, leaving Guanlin wondering what the hell just happened?

Unfortunately for Guanlin, he does think about it. A lot. He thinks about it when Seonho emerges from the bathroom, nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist and Guanlin tries desperately to look at anything else and he thinks about it when he and Seonho are standing next to each other under the harsh bright lights of the communal bathrooms, brushing their teeth. Seonho’s shoulder brushes against his. He does like girls, right? He’s starting to wonder, thinking back on all the questionably non-straight things he’s done in his life. Honestly, there’s a lot. Should he be worried? Why would Jinyoung even ask him anyway? Maybe he likes Seonho and he’s just checking. There, maybe that’s it. Guanlin is frustrated to find he doesn’t really like the idea of that one too much either.   
“Guanlin,” Seonho waves a hand in front of his face, impossibly close, “You’re not gonna spit?”  
Guanlin blinks for a second, stuck on Seonho before he steps past him and spits. Guanlin really just wants to forget tonight.

 

He could have sworn that he and Seonho went to sleep in different beds so it’s a huge mystery when he wakes up at five in the morning, mouth dry and impossibly sweaty with a mop of hair under his chin. His pyjama shirt sticks to his chest it’s so hot and every part of his body that’s in contact with Seonho burns. He reaches over him awkwardly to reach his phone and clicks the home button to find the time 05:56 floating in front of his bleary eyes. Summer sure does play tricks on people because so much light filters through the cracks between the closed blinds that Guanlin could swear it was day. He wonders what he should do. Risk waking Seonho and try and detach himself or suffer the heat for the sake of Seonho’s sleep schedule. Guanlin looks through his eyelash at the boy below him, hair fanned out against the white of Guanlin’s pillow, face smushed up against his chest and he truly is very cute. If Guanlin’s a weakling for Seonho on normal days, he’s extra weak at six in the morning so he carefully pries Seonho’s hand from around his waist and slowly slides himself out of his bed, making sure to leave Seonho in a comfortable position. He pads out of his room and into the little kitchenette in the dorms bare feet, not really expecting to see anyone at this time in the morning. When he does turn the corner, he sees Jihoon and Jinyoung curled up asleep on either end of the sofa, some anime playing softly in the background and Samuel and Daehwi sat up next to each other on the kitchen worktop, each with a glass of water.   
“Oh,” Guanlin says, upon seeing them, “Morning.”Samuel and Daehwi both turn to him, eerily in sink and both of them have some weird look in their eyes, a little dazed, a little amazed. Yesterday, Guanlin would have described it as sunsoaked, the kind of tired sleepiness you get after you’ve been in the sun all day but maybe he’s wrong, he just can’t seem to pin it. Both of them smile at him and he walks farther into the kitchen, opens up the cupboard to reach for Jisung’s plastic Frozen cup. He fills it and then leans against the cupboards, only then returning his eyes to Samuel and Daehwi. Both of them seem to be looking at him expectantly. He takes a gulp of his drink and then raises an eyebrow.   
“What?” he asks.  
“Did you sleep well?” Daehwi asks but it’s obvious, even to Guanlin, that he means something else.   
“What are you talking about?” he asks, harsher than he intends to be. It’s six in the morning, don’t blame him. 

Samuel has this weird kind of grin on his face, like he knows something Guanlin doesn’t.   
“You and Seonho,” he prompts, “I didn’t realise you guys had progressed to sleeping together.”Guanlin blinks at the casual use of the phrase ‘sleeping together’ but skips past it, instead reaching to refill his cup. He’s still thirsty.   
“Neither did I," he replies casually, "We didn't fall asleep like that.”“So what happened then?” Daehwi asks curiously and Guanlin looks at him, trying to pull some pieces together.   
“Why are you so interested?” Guanlin says back instead, bemused and Daehwi and Samuel exchange another look. Neither of them are wearing makeup and they look a lot younger like this, sitting under in the kitchen, no harsh spotlights highlighting their every flaw. Guanlin is incredibly fond of them.   
“Just wondering.”  
Guanlin glances at them again and then takes another sip from the cup before tipping the rest down the sink.   
“I don’t know,” he says dismissively, fully ready to return to bed, “Seonho must have come in in the middle of the night.”  
Guanlin is walking past the living room when Samuel says “but, hyung, why would he?”  
Guanlin is far away enough to pretend he didn’t hear but not far away enough to escape it. Why would he?

When he gets back into the room, it's so hot in there, he immediately wants to leave again. Instead, he shuts the door behind him and cracks the window open, even though it’s not much better outside. When he turns around again, Seonho’s eyes are half open and he’s watching Guanlin sleepily.   
“Where’d you go, hyung?” he asks, voice gravelly from under use and the short conversation Guanlin had with Jinyoung last night came rushing back to the forefront of his mind because Seonho is so effortlessly beautiful with his tan skin and his innocent eyes and the way he’s so relaxed in Guanlin’s bed and the older boy’s chest literally aches at the sight of him.  
“Oh, uh. I was thirsty.”  
Seonho nods in understanding, letting his eyes flutter closed, breathing in deeply before he cracks one eye open to look at Guanlin expectantly.   
“Aren’t you coming back?”How can Guanlin say no to that?

It’s Daniel that finally convinces him of it, in the end. Seonho doesn’t stop crawling into bed with him and Guanlin eventually gets used to sleeping with him. He never bothers asking Seonho why he prefers to sleep with Guanlin in the stuffy summer heat of Seoul because he knows he’ll blush at the answer so he just shifts over and allows Seonho to wedge one of his legs between Guanlin’s own. On this particular day, Guanlin had woken up with Seonho’s sleeping face inches from his own, the others fringe tickling at the back of his eyelids and Guanlin had found himself thinking that if he leant forward just a few centimetres, they’d be kissing. He had refilled the Elsa cup six consecutive times at the sink that morning. So he and Daniel are on break from practicing and it’s still unbearably hot. Both he and the elder boy are spread eagle on the practice room floor, flushed cheeks against the wooden floor when Daniel suddenly asks, “so when are you gonna ask Seonho out?”  
Guanlin sits up so quickly the world blurs black around the edges. Daniel watches him.  
“Huh?”  
“You and Seonho? When are you going to make it official?”  
“Seonho a-and me?” Guanlin splutters, “We’re n-not- we’re just friends.”Daniel raises one perfect eyebrow at him from the floor and it’s easy to tell he doesn’t believe him but Guanlin doesn’t understand why.  
“Seriously, hyung!” Guanlin exclaims, finally exasperated, “Everyone seems to think there’s something going on with Seonho-yah and I when there isn’t!”  
Daniel’s expression doesn’t change.   
“Do you want there to be?”  
Guanlin splutters again, looking at Daniel incredulously.   
“We're just friends, hyung.”  
“You guys have literally slept together so much you can’t sleep without each other anymore,” Daniel points out and Guanlin is grabbing desperately for an explanation.  
“B- because we’re homesick, hyung! And we’re from the same company so we stick together!”   
“Jisung and i are from the same company, I don’t sleep with him.”Guanlin sends Daniel a stormy look, fully ready to get up and go and lie with Daehwi but it seems Daniel isn’t done yet.   
“I see the way you idiots look at each other,” Daniel says, and this makes Guanlin lie back down next to him, staring at the ceiling defeated.   
“Like what?” he says quietly.   
“I don’t know,” Daniel shrugs, never really one for poetry, “Like you’re a lot more than friends. Like, you know that look people get after they’ve been in the sun all day, all sleepy and exhausted but they’re kind of glowing a little?”  
“Sunsoaked,” Guanlin says, a little out of it and things are kind of clicking into place. Not just for him and Seonho but for Daehwi and Samuel as well. Who knew?  
“Yeah,” Daniel agrees quietly, trainer clad foot nudging at Guanlin’s, “Sunsoaked.”  
When he looks over, his face seems a little pensive at the edges and Guanlin wonders if he’s thinking about someone but before he can try and pull things together, Daniel turns towards him, voice softer.   
“You know what I’m saying, right?” he asks the younger and Guanlin bites at his lower lip, not quite sure if he’s ready.  
“I…don’t know.”  
Guanlin doesn’t know how Daniel stays so patient.   
“Okay, how about this,” he begins, “how would you feel if Seonho got a girlfriend?”  
“I…probably not good,” Guanlin replies honestly, because he definitely wouldn’t like it.   
“And how would you feel if Seonho suddenly started coming to your bed at night and left you alone?”“I don’t know, I’d miss him lots.”  
The smile on Daniel’s face slowly grows.  
“And can you see him in your future? When you’re grown up?”Guanlin sits up again.  
“Yes,” he breathes, and he can and he wants to and he finally realises.   
“You got it?” Daniel asks, eyes crinkled in that telltale smile.   
“I got it,” Guanlin says breathlessly, eyes vaguely wild, “thank you, Daniel-hyung!”

Guanlin rushes back to the dorms as fast as he can, stumbles past Samuel and Daehwi holding hands and trips into his and Seonho’s shared dorm room.   
“Hyung!” Seonho exclaims at the suddenness of Guanlin’s entrance. He’s lounging on Guanlin’s bed with his phone charging from the socket in the wall when Guanlin bounces onto the bed. The anxiety licking at the bottom of his stomach makes him hesitate for a moment, wondering if everyone just got it really wrong and Seonho would just be creeped out but he thinks about the way Seonho looked on the sofa the other night, looking at him.   
“Seonho-yah,” Guanlin starts and Seonho immediately sits up at the formal mention, face morphing into something semi-serious.   
“Is everything alright, hyung?” Seonho asks him, leaning forward to touch Guanlin’s hand. It burns.   
“Seonho,” Guanlin breathes, “I think I like you.”  
Seonho removes his hand and pulls back and for a dreaded, dreaded second, Guanlin thinks he’s made a mistake but then Seonho is throwing all one hundred and seventy something centimetres of his gangly body straight into Guanlin’s lap and hugging him so tight it’s hard to breathe.   
“Ah, hyung!” Seonho exclaims, voice brimming with happiness, “I like you so much! I thought you’d never realised.”  
Guanlin finally manages to make his hands react and he wraps them around Seonho’s waist, holding him as close as he can. Seonho leans back, staring right at him with a lopsided smile on his face and Guanlin doesn’t need a mirror to know that he’s flushing happily, full on gummy smile on show. Guanlin can finally admire Seonho’s freckles up close and he doesn’t even hesitate to kiss the end of his nose, satisfied when Seonho flushes a cute pink.   
“Ah, hyung!” Seonho whines but Guanlin shuts him up with a proper kiss this time and Guanlin can feel Seonho’s hand moving to cradle the back of his neck.   
Seonho’s even more flushed when Guanlin pulls away and Guanlin laughs at him, causing him to hide his face in the older’s neck.   
“I love summer,” Guanlin murmurs, smiling into Seonho’s shirt. 

So Samuel and Daehwi break the Elsa cup when Daehwi trips conveniently into Samuel’s arms but it’s fine. Guanlin doesn’t need it anymore, anyway.

**Author's Note:**

> so that's finally over!! i wrote this to deal with the terrible pain of losing seonho and samuel THEY DESERVED BETTER but the only thing that keeps me going is the fact that guanlin and seonho will reunite together what a complete hype but YES i hope you all enjoyed reading this absoloute word vomit i adore the cube cuties with my whole heart. if you have any questions, complaints or simply just want to talk, you can hmu on tumblr @jeongquq or twitter @dollawig!! 
> 
> p.s who's daniel thinking about hehehehhehgehe


End file.
